Realization
by Center of the Galaxy
Summary: Nate realizes things about Elena as he waits for news of her condition. Takes place at the end of Among Thieves. Nate/Elena


_**Author's Note: **__I love Uncharted and I just finished the second game today and when I saw the ending, I couldn't resist! Please enjoy it!_

If he could go back and do it all over again, he would.

He would've told her back when she was still in his life before all this chaos. He would've done it romantically of course, not when she had been she had been fading away. He would've made it a whole occasion and afterward it would've been a happy ending for both of them.

But, Nathan Drake knew better now.

He had never been one to think ahead or learn from his mistakes. He had always been a go with the flow guy and laid back. As his good friend Victor Sullivan had pointed out to him numerous times, he was never the man with the plan. Even if he did make a plan, chances were that it would get scrapped within seconds that the plan actually came into play.

But for Elena, he could be that man.

He looked up towards the sky. The Sun was now starting to vanish from the blue sky. Nate sighed.

He had never been one to believe in a higher power, but nevertheless, he said a prayer for her to live. He saw Tenzin standing before an altar of sorts and he and his daughter were praying too. It seemed as if they were all praying for her to live.

Nate sat down on a bench and sighed. They had gotten back a half an hour ago and he hadn't heard anything from the local doctor. He wondered if he should go back in there—No, Chloe was with her. She would come and tell him if Elena got better.

Or worse, his mind added darkly.

You see, he hadn't realized back then when he was still with her exactly how much he cared for her until it was too late. He had known that he liked her. What wasn't to like? She was hot, smart, sarcastic, caring, and stubborn as hell. He liked her and she liked him so they had dated.

And that was great.

Until things started to fall apart.

Their relationship had ended suddenly and he knew that he was to blame. He had wanted her to give up something she loved—journalism. He just wanted to keep her safe. He didn't like the idea of her running around in foreign countries where wars were breaking out and where crazy power hungry people were. He wanted her to stay Stateside and safe.

_"How the hell is that fair?!" _She had shouted. _"You want me to stay here to keep me safe while you're out robbing tombs and possibly getting yourself killed in one of these aforementioned countries?"_

_ "Elena, I just don't want you to get hurt!"_

_ "I worry about you!" _She had cried. _"When you're gone for weeks on end to get treasure, I worry about whether you'll be alive or not! But have I asked you to stop? No! Because I know you love it."_

She had stepped closer to him and placed her smooth hand on his cheek.

_"Elena,"_

_ "I love you, ok?" _She had admitted. _"But, without journalism, I'm not me. Just like without treasure hunting, you're not you."_

His heart had frozen when she had said those three words.

He supposed that looking back on it now, he had been afraid of commitment. He had been afraid of the fact that he might stay with Elena for the rest of his life. He had been afraid she would get hurt because of her journalism and he had also been afraid of giving up treasure hunting.

So, he had left.

He had left her with tears in her eyes and no explanation for why he was leaving, not even to himself. He hadn't realized that the pain he felt walking out the door was the pain of his own heart breaking. No, he ignored that feeling and still left to Mexico. He attributed that feeling to something of a betrayal by her.

But now, he knew that wasn't right. 

She had been right; he had been wrong.

He knew now that he loved her, but it had been a new realization.

No, Nathan Drake didn't realize how important she was to him until Flynn held that grenade up and he realized that she was too close. The feeling had hit him like a ton of bricks. He realized within a fraction of a second how much he loved her. He realized that his mistake in leaving her and wanted nothing than to tell her.

But, of course, Nathan Drake was too late.

Flynn dropped the grenade, Elena had been too close and now he wondered if he was too late in his realization. He hoped that he hadn't been.

"_Elena!" _He had yelled when she had shut her eyes.

"_Nate! We got to get her back before she bleeds out!" _Chloe had ordered. He had nodded and scooped her up into his arms. God, she had felt so cold!

"_You hang in there, Elena, ok?" _He whispered to her. _"Don't you dare leave me."_

He and Chloe had sprinted back to the village and he had reluctantly passed Elena to the local doctor. Chloe had gone with the doctor promising to inform Nate of any changes in Elena's condition. Somewhere, in all the chaos, someone had called Sully and told him about Elena's condition. He had promised to come as soon as he could.

And so, Nate had been waiting here, outside the house where Elena was. His head instantly perked up when the door opened and Chloe came out. Nate jumped up and ran over to her.

"How is she?" He asked frantically. "She's going to be ok, right?"

"Nate, the doctor said she lost a lot of blood and the explosion really did a number on her." Nate grimaced; he didn't like where this was going.

"But, she'll recover, right?" He persisted.

"If she survives the next 12 hours, she'll make it." Chloe told him.

She placed a hand upon his shoulder as he chuckled dryly.

"Everything I touch, Chloe," He muttered. "Everything I touch turns to . . ." He didn't have the heart to finish the thought.

"She's been asking to see you." She pointed towards the door. "You should go."

He didn't need any other encouragement. He ran up the steps and opened the door.

"Nate?" A voice croaked. He shut the door behind him and saw Elena, his angel, lying on the bed. She looked broken—in both body and spirit—and she looked sickly. Her bright eyes were dull, her skin was pale, and her golden hair looked dark and dirty. He quickly pulled up a seat beside her and grabbed her hand—it was cold.

Not good, his mind said.

"I'm here." He whispered to her.

"I had a dream." She mumbled and blinked her eyes. She looked like she could fade away from him at any moment.

"What was the dream?" He pressed. If he could keep her talking, she would stay awake.

"You and I were back together," She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. "And you left. I tried to find you, but I couldn't." She frowned and looked like she might cry.

"Elena, I'm not going to leave you." He promised as he kissed her hand. "You just focus on resting and getting back to normal."

"You won't leave?" Her gaze met his. No, there was no way in hell he would leave this beautiful angel on Earth ever again.

"No, I won't." She smiled and then shut her eyes.

He listened to her breathing slow as she fell asleep. He stayed with her for the next five hours, holding her hand and watching her sleep. He had never felt so helpless in all his life. He should've never gotten her involved in this. He should've just done what Chloe said in the first place and left her alone. True, he would've never been able to realize his feelings for her, but she also wouldn't be hurt and fighting for her life.

The door opened after the hours passed and Chloe stepped inside.

"Nate, Sully is outside." He didn't move; he didn't want to leave her alone ever again. Chloe pulled him out of the chair and pushed him towards the door.

"Chloe," He started.

"Go see him," She ordered. "I'll watch over her."

He took one last look at Elena and then went outside. It was night now, probably past midnight, but he could still make out the form of his longtime friend.

"Nate!" Sully exclaimed. "What the hell happened!?"

"It was Flynn." Nate explained. "He had a grenade and Elena was standing too close and she—God, Sully, why does it take a grenade to make me realize how much I love that woman!?"

Sully could see panic rising in the young man's eyes and he sighed. When he got the phone call about Elena's condition he knew that Drake was going to be mad with himself and worried.

"Kid, you've never been the one to see the things that are right in front of you. You tend to take the harder path because it's filled with adventure than the easier path that's right in front of you."

Drake chuckled dryly.

"Yeah, that's me." He replied.

"As for Elena, she's gonna be fine." Nate looked away and Sully forced the kid to look at him. "She's as stubborn as a mule and she won't let an explosion keep her down."

". . . Yeah," Nate finally agreed. "You're right."

"Course I am, Nate." Sully told him and finally got a smile from him. "Now, why don't you get some rest? Chloe told me you've been by her side all this time and frankly kid, you look like crap."

"Thanks, Sully." Nate muttered sarcastically. "But I—"

"No butts, kid." Sully pushed the man towards the house he was using. "Get changed and go to bed. She'll still be here in the morning."

Nate finally resigned himself and went into the house as Sully looked up into the starry sky.

"Elena will be fine," He assured himself. "She has to be or Nate will die along with her."

He sighed and lighted himself a cigar.

_The Next Morning:_

Elena opened her eyes to see that her room was empty. Her body was wracked with pain and her memories over the past day were really fuzzy. She remembered Flynn and the grenade and then she remembered Nate pleading with her not to leave.

She sat up and groaned with the effort. God, she hated feeling helpless. She forced herself to move to the edge of the bed when a hand firmly pushed her back down.

"No, you don't."

She couldn't help but smile.

"Nate,"

He grinned and sat at the chair beside her bed.

"Congratulations Miss Fisher, you survived the past 12 hours and you're going to make a full recovery." He grabbed her hand and used his thumb to rub it. Suddenly a thought came rushing into her mind.

"Did you stop—?"

"Yes," He replied quickly. "I let the Guardians finish him off."

"Thank God," Elena muttered.

"Sully's here."

"He is?" She hadn't seen him since last year.

"Yeah, someone called him as soon as Chloe and I brought you here." His expression darkened when he told her this and she surmised that it had been a long night for him. She must've worried him.

"Nate, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" He asked confused. "What are you sorry for?"

"I got too close and I should've listened to you and—"

"No, I should be the one who's sorry." He interrupted. "I dragged you into this mess. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be hurt." He looked away from her and she placed her hand on his cheek and moved his face so that he was looking at her.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be alive."

He leaned in closer to her and she placed her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

"Thank God, you're alive, Elena." He whispered. "I thought that I had lost you last night."

"Nate, I'm always here." She told him. "I've always been here and I'll always be here for you."

"Well then," He started with a devilish grin on his face. "Think you could handle being around more often?"

She grinned widely.

"Yeah, I think I could."

There was a knock on the door as the doctor entered with Chloe. Nate got up.

"I'll be back later." He kissed her forehead.

"Ok." Elena replied as Nate walked out the door.

Nate looked up at the sky as the Sun was shining radiantly.

"Thank you," He whispered to anyone who might've saved Elena.

Elena was alive.

He had another chance.

And this time, he would do it right. He would tell her how much she meant to him. He had never been the man with a plan, but Nathan Drake had a feeling that now he was going to need a plan to keep Elena in his life—not a big plan, but a small backup plan when things got rough in their relationship, which was sure to happen since they were both as stubborn as hell.

The wind began to rustle through the trees and Nate had a feeling that a new adventure was going to start.

Only this time, he wouldn't be alone.

And he liked knowing that.

_**Author's Note: **__Review please! I love to hear your feedback!_


End file.
